Nearly 5,000 in area await extension as Congress debates issue

By Brian Nearing

Published 7:10 pm, Thursday, December 26, 2013

About 4,900 jobless people in the greater nine-county Capital Region will lose federally supported emergency unemployment insurance benefits that expire Saturday, the state Labor Department said.

State labor officials started warning long-term unemployed in October that emergency unemployment benefits begun under President George W. Bush to cushion workers who lost jobs from the economic recession that started in 2008, could be ending at the end of this year, according to an official.

Nationally, as many 1.3 million Americans could find themselves without an unemployment check after Saturday, as congressional Republicans and Democrats disagree over whether to extend the program again at a time when the jobless rate has come down, but still remains high compared to other post-recession periods.

This month, the state Labor Department sent another warning letter to those whose unemployment insurance is now due to expire because they have been collecting longer than 26 weeks, which is the state limit that had been extended to as long as 63 weeks under the federal emergency program.

In the letter, the state advised people to visit state job-placement centers and a state resume-matching service. It also told how to apply for welfare programs including supplemental nutritional assistance, food stamps, temporary assistance, and Medicaid.

In New York, the maximum unemployment check is $405 a week, but the average recipient collects $283 weekly, according to the Labor Department. That would mean more than $70 million in reduced spending power annually in the region once the unemployment checks stop.

On Thursday, Democrats in Congress called for a three-month extension of the federal program, but Republicans have been unwilling to accept that without finding specific ways to cover the expense of the $6.5 billion program without borrowing and adding to the federal deficit.

"Federal emergency unemployment assistance is a critical lifeline for New Yorkers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, helping them continue to make ends meet as they search for new employment," said U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who is a cosponsor of the extension bill that could be debated next month.

Once state unemployment limits kick back in, more and more people could lose benefits as they reach their state's limit.